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Ruthie Ackerman

@ruackerman

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Author of The Mother Code, named a best book of the year by Elle & NPR 📕 Book coach and developmental editor ✍🏻

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Had the best time talking to @drbeckyatgoodinside today! Can’t wait for you all to listen to our episode when it comes out 💕 by @ruackerman

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6 months ago

This must have gotten lost in the whirlwind of the holiday season but I am SO EXCITED to announce that The Mother Code was chosen as one of @elleusa Best Non Fiction Books of 2025. It’s in fantastic company with some of my personal favorite books of last year (including Raising Hare by @chloeedalton and Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst)

I know making the ‘best of’ lists doesn’t mean everything, but it sure does feel good after a year of reaching out to practically everyone I’ve ever met telling them about my book. Hard work pays off!

Thank you so much for including The Mother Code and crafting such an incredible list of books, Adrienne Gaffney, @samuel.p.maude @laurpuckett 💖 by @ruackerman

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9 months ago

Look what came as an early holiday present: galleys of The Mother Code! 📚❤️ by @ruackerman

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2 years ago

Meet Ruthie Ackerman, author of “The Mother Code”, joining us at MomTalks 2026 with her talk, Outlaw Mothers: Rewriting the Narrative on Motherhood. Ruthie is challenging the expectations we place on motherhood and making space for a more honest, complicated, and personal version of the story.
November 13–14, 2026 | Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Tickets are on sale now. Link in bio.
#momtalksatl #discoveratlanta #motherhood #momlife #momboss taken in Emory University Atlanta, GA by @ruackerman

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2 days ago

Life isn’t lived in the binary, it’s lived in the middle. And when we remember that, it makes the living so much easier. Have you read @storyshaped recent @newyorkermag essay on Pregnancy Interrupted, @clancy_kate ‘s new book? What were your takeaways? by @ruackerman

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2 days ago

@with.dr.helen book is a USA Today bestseller! 🎉

When Helen and I started working together in 2022, she was planning to self-publish. Instead, she wrote a proposal, signed with a wonderful agent, sold her book to Post Hill Press, and now Closing the Fulfillment Gap has landed on the USA Today bestseller list.

Almost every author I know (myself included) dreams of seeing their book on a bestseller list. Very few get there. I’m so proud of Helen, and so grateful I got to be part of this from the very first pages. She earned every bit of it.

If you haven’t already, grab a copy and pass it along to anyone looking for more fulfillment in their work and their life.

CONGRATS, HELEN! 🎉 by @ruackerman

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3 days ago

Many women have absorbed the belief that being a mother and finding fulfillment beyond that role, whatever that looks like to you, sit at opposite ends of the spectrum.

In this week’s episode of Electric Ideas, Ruthie Ackerman and I explore what becomes possible when we stop treating our callings as competition for our love for our children.

🎧Wanting to be there for bedtime and wanting to bring something of your own into the world can both be true. Listen to “Balancing Motherhood and Ambition Without Losing Yourself” wherever you stream. by @ruackerman

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5 days ago

Last chance to save your spot in my 8-Week Kickstarter, starting next week! If you can’t make this one, you can sign up for the waitlist for the next one starting in January. You can find everything on my website: RuthieAckerman.com ✨ Can’t wait to write with you soon! by @ruackerman

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5 days ago

On this week’s Electric Ideas podcast episode, Ruthie Ackerman breaks the silence and stigmas around alternative paths to motherhood.

We delve into her memoir, “The Mothercode: My Story of Love, Loss and the Myths that Shape Us,” recently named a best nonfiction book of the year so far by NPR.

🎧 Comment “podcast” for a link to “Balancing Motherhood and Ambition Without Losing Yourself.” by @ruackerman

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9 days ago

Maybe the goal isn’t to get your life exactly right.
Maybe it’s to get better at hearing yourself.

Which one of these did you need today?
Comment RUTHIE for the full conversation. by @ruackerman

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11 days ago

No city does merch better than NYC. Swipe to see my favorite pieces, for me and for the people I love. Consider it a head start on holiday shopping, or permission to buy yourself something today.

See the full list at RuthieAckerman.substack.com ✨

@nytransitmuseum Subway pencil case

It’s shaped like the R211, the new open-gangway subway car, so your kid can carry their pencils in the train they actually ride. The Transit Museum shop is one of the city’s most underrated. Go for this, then stay for the vintage cars downstairs.

@russanddaughters kids’ tee 🥯 Start them young. A century-old appetizing shop on a toddler tee is peak New York parenting, and it tells everyone you know where you get the good lox.

@nycferry “The People’s Yacht” cropped tee ⛴️ The ferry is the best deal in the city: water views for a little more than the price of a subway ride. Now you can rep your favorite mode of transportation in the cutest boxy tee.

@themuseumofmodernart x @nike basketball socks. Art-museum socks that are also real athletic socks. I’d wear them to the gym, of course, but also with a long dress.

Donald Judd’s home and studio at 101 Spring Street is one of SoHo’s best treasures. The tote from @juddfoundation is minimalist, like the man, and the pink keeps it from being too serious.

A tiny replica of the city’s wire trash cans from @onlyny , for your desk. It’s funny, whimsical and it’s the most New York object on this list.

The library is the greatest free institution in New York, and this @nypl cap is for those in the know. This is the one I’d buy for myself first.

A signed, numbered risograph print from a Brooklyn artist, @ivy.upon for thirty dollars. The MetroCard is on its way out, which makes this a small piece of history as much as art. @printedmatterinc , the artists’ book shop in Chelsea, is one of my favorite spots in the city to pass time. by @ruackerman

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12 days ago

How much of yourself can you give away before you realize no one actually knows you?

Ruthie thought she had built an empowered life. Then she realized how often she’d made herself easy,
undemanding and endlessly accommodating so she would be chosen.

Comment RUTHIE and I’ll send you our full conversation. by @ruackerman

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12 days ago